rcarv

Q: Apple TV gives up on WiFi association after some time

Hi,

 

I have the following scenario:

 

- Apple TV Model A1469, Version 7.2.1 (8011)

- "Not always on" Wireless Network (ex, WiFi is powered off for some periods)

 

When I start the WiFi network and then Apple TV, it works fine, it associates to the Network without problems.

 

Then I disconnect the WiFi network, but keep Apple TV on. Apple TV will obviously disconnect from WiFi.

 

But after some time (this varies between 30 minutes to 6 hours, generaly) when I turn the WiFi network on again, the Apple TV never connects to the WiFi network again. It's like it has forgotten about the network entirely, and stays like that forever.

 

I can recover it by power off / power on the Apple TV or by going to network settings and associate again to the network. A curious fact: Apple TV does not ask for the password this time, so this means that the password is known.

 

I have ruled out WiFi interference, electronic gear nearby, mains noise, etc. So I need to understand what to do next, because the Apple TV must be in conference mode all time and the WiFi network must be down when not in use.

 

This is a completely unnatended system, conference room users are not allowed to mess with Apple TV power and use the remote either.

 

Apple TV should always try to reconnect.. why does it give up after a while?

 

Thanks.

Apple TV, Other OS, Apple TV Software: 7.2.1 (8011)

Posted on Apr 27, 2016 5:35 AM

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Q: Apple TV gives up on WiFi association after some time

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  • by Diana.McCall,Helpful

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Apr 29, 2016 9:43 AM in response to rcarv
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 29, 2016 9:43 AM in response to rcarv

    You say you "disconnect the WiFi", but I think you mean that you turn it off at the router. ATV continues trying to connect, but gives up after a while. Having given up, it won't try again unless you interact with it somehow. I suspect that it's designed to do that. It's not surprising that it remembers the network key, since I think it behaves like an iPad or iPhone, saving the SSIDs and keys of networks it has previously seen.

    You can try complaining to Apple at http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html but I suspect this requirement was not included in the design. After all, ATV was really designed for home use, as indicated by the "watch TV" apps. Schools and businesses find them useful, but that's not the primary product focus.

    Why is it necessary to turn the WiFi off?

    Could you use a wired connection for ATV? Assuming your router supports it, wireless clients could still AirPlay to ATV.

    I was going to suggest that you enable conference room mode on ATV, but it sounds like you're already doing that.

    It's a little brutal, but could you power down ATV (pull the plug) before turning off WiFi? That way, ATV would never know that WiFi goes away.

     

    By the way, there are other reports of ATV apparently giving up on network connections while sleeping, even when WiFi remains available. These users have to do the same as you to get ATV to pay attention to networks again. The funny thing is that it doesn't affect everyone. There may be some unrelated ATV setting that triggers this behavior. So you might hope for a software fix, or one of these other threads might finally come up with a solution. Just search here for WiFi and sleep.

  • by rcarv,

    rcarv rcarv Apr 29, 2016 7:18 AM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 29, 2016 7:18 AM in response to Diana.McCall

    Hi Diana,

     

    Thank you for your detailed message. Let me clear some items you have pointed out:

     

    Our use case is hospitality. To reduce interference between rooms, we only enable the WiFi on guest demand. We can keep it always on, but it increases interference between rooms. Also, being a hospitality solution, one of the base requirements is that guests must not interfere directly with the ATV. So they don't have a remote for the ATV, and power to the ATV is not accessible (power cycling the ATV solves the problem). Most hotels now keep TV always on (they don't turn off with the room keycard). So, this is the problem.. ATV is always on, user has no access to reconfigure it and WiFi is enabled only when required (Airplay).

     

    I understand that ATV was designed for home use, but we can debate around "Conference Mode" feature value for home use. I find this feature more close to a business than for home usage, thus I was expecting that ATV always tries to reconnect, no matter what.

     

    Other concern is that ATV may still disconnect from WiFi even if it is on all the time.. We have all sleep settings disabled, but only long run tests will make this clear.

     

    I am convinced that this is a bug, at least in conference mode. I will post this issue in the feedback page and hope for the best.

     

    Thank you for your time!

  • by Diana.McCall,Helpful

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Apr 29, 2016 9:44 AM in response to rcarv
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 29, 2016 9:44 AM in response to rcarv

    Did this use to work? Did it begin to give trouble after the stealth 7.2.1 refresh (same version number) on Feb 25, 2016?

    This may be an intentional security feature, to prevent a hacker spoofing the prior network and invading the ATV. If it's intentional, it'll be much harder to get a fix.

  • by rcarv,

    rcarv rcarv Apr 29, 2016 9:55 AM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 29, 2016 9:55 AM in response to Diana.McCall

    Hi Diana,

     

    It may be related, but I am not sure.

     

    The fact is that we have some hotels (past instalations) where the ATV behaves properly and only recent installations started to have this random connectivity behaviour.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall Apr 29, 2016 12:33 PM in response to rcarv
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    Apr 29, 2016 12:33 PM in response to rcarv

    I fear the other installations may just be pending updates. I guess you'd be safe if auto update is turned off, and of course you don't give your units much chance to see the internet. I asked about the update because there have been other posts about network trouble following the update.

  • by rcarv,

    rcarv rcarv May 1, 2016 1:25 PM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    May 1, 2016 1:25 PM in response to Diana.McCall

    Hi Diana,

     

    As part of the installation, we disable auto-updates. But the ATV is exposed to the Internet, so that guests can Airplay Internet content. I am counting on the fact the ATV will not attempt an auto-upgrade when this setting is explicily set to Off, please tell me if I'm wrong.

     

    Also, where can I get offcial confirmation that the latest firmare is in fact "forgetting" WiFi settings when the AP "disappears" for too long?

     

    Thanks.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall May 1, 2016 3:37 PM in response to rcarv
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    May 1, 2016 3:37 PM in response to rcarv

    I think you're safe with automatic updates disabled.

    Since you're a large user, you may be able to get some information from Apple tech support; out of my league, I'm afraid. Certainly, there are other reports here of ATV dropping WiFi after sleep, even when the network is always available.

    You have ATV 3, which is supposed to be stable now, so it's hard to say if this is a bug or a design feature. Long ago we had a DEC computer whose software didn't work as documented.. They fixed it in the next update, by sending a revised documentation page  

  • by rcarv,

    rcarv rcarv May 2, 2016 2:13 AM in response to Diana.McCall
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    May 2, 2016 2:13 AM in response to Diana.McCall

    Diana, one las question you may be able to help me with. Is there any way to revert back to some firmware? If we know the formware where this works, we could rollout a downgrade. Thanks.

  • by Diana.McCall,

    Diana.McCall Diana.McCall May 2, 2016 3:20 AM in response to rcarv
    Level 4 (2,942 points)
    Apple TV
    May 2, 2016 3:20 AM in response to rcarv

    I'm afraid not. Apple has stopped "signing" the earlier releases, so they cannot be installed. You could try an Apple store, but they probably cannot do it either. Also, just for info, note that there are two versions of the ATV hardware, see Identify your Apple TV model - Apple Support